Fill or charge stations may be used to fill depleted canisters with compressed gas. Numerous types of canisters exist for storing compressed gas, such as anesthesia, air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, compressed natural gas (CNG), and the like. For example, self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs) include one or more canisters (or cylinders) and may be used in a variety of environments, such as firefighting, medicine, recreational underwater diving, and the like. Various fill stations exist for filling the canisters with the appropriate type of gas and an amount/pressure of the gas.
Fill stations may include a control system, a station housing that is configured to receive one or more of the canisters, and pneumatic components (e.g., valves, tubes, pipes, fittings, etc.) that may be stored within or may be attached to the station housing. The control system has user-activated elements for managing the fill station. Although existing fill stations are effective in supplying compressed gas to the canisters, such fill stations may have some drawbacks. For instance, assembling and maintaining the fill stations may require a substantial amount of labor and costs. When the fill station is constructed, numerous pneumatic components are interconnected through threaded fittings and/or strung together with tubing. Assembling the many pneumatic components can be time consuming. Moreover, multiple connections increase the likelihood that a leak will develop in the fill station. If a leak is detected, the operator may be required to disassemble the fill station and remove any defective components. Frequently, the defective components and/or other components from the disassembling cannot be re-used.
In addition to the above drawbacks, other problems may exist in conventional fill stations. The control system typically includes numerous user-activated elements, such as knobs, switches, buttons, and the like, that may be used to control various functions offered by the fill station. Some functions offered by fill stations include auto-cascade filling, manual cascade filling, bulk storage, and dual pressures. Different fill stations, however, may have different control system configurations and it may not be readily apparent to a new operator how to manage the fill station.